42.2 million people – 13.1 million children – 5.7 million seniors struggle with hunger in America

I am an unabashed supporter of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and have been since it began thirty years ago, a brainchild of the late Rabbi Harold Schulweis and the late liberal activist Leonard Fein. Their mission then was simple, but as has been proven, very difficult to fulfill – namely, to engage the American Jewish community in helping to alleviate hunger in the United States.

Now, MAZON has created a powerful experience that over the next year will travel to every major city in America and end up parked near the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. as a prod to Congress to do everything possible to alleviate hunger in the wealthiest nation in the world.

MAZON presents “This Is Hunger Experience,” a high-impact, experiential installation on wheels—literally, it’s a big rig. When the 53-foot-long double expandable trailer is parked and open on both sides, it provides nearly 1,000 square feet of interior space to take participants on a two-part journey: to understand the stark reality of hunger in America and to take action to end hunger once and for all.

Part One: Illuminate—Participants enter the truck and are invited to sit at a communal table to meet, virtually, real people struggling with hunger. Portraits are projected at each end of the table, one by one, as they share their stories in their own words and in their own voices.

Part Two: Advocate—At the conclusion of Part One: Illuminate, participants will be invited to engage in activities and experiences that will deepen their awareness about the complexities of being hungry and invite them to join MAZON in educating the rest of our nation and advocating for change.

This interactive experience on wheels will illuminate the very real and preventable existence of hunger in America, encourage us to raise our voices on behalf of the 42.2 million Americans who struggle with hunger every day, and ignite our community's commitment to end hunger once and for all. This truck’s first stop is in Los Angeles and is currently parked at Temple Israel of Hollywood. (For tours and reservations, see links below).

MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger has a long tradition of engaging the American Jewish community as well as anti-hunger organizations to become catalysts for the change we need to end hunger in America. We know all too well that there are persistent myths about hunger in America, about who is hungry and why. Until our nation recognizes the profound prevalence of hunger here at home, we will never be able to rally the political will required to end it.

That's why MAZON is launching the public tour of This Is Hunger, a powerful community engagement program that will encourage individuals to embark on a journey—one that challenges their beliefs about who in America struggles with hunger and why, and empower them to take action.